My name is Joe Ward and I am a candidate for CBRM Council in District 6—previously held by Ray Paruch.

Most of the talk about changes to property taxes—from inside the CBRM these days—seems to focus on the "tax cap", a highly controversial strategy that creates a lot of apprehension.

But we have opportunities to lower taxes in the CBRM even without touching the cap.

Let's be clear though: the tax cap is a system that was broken from the very start. I focus on alternatives or things we can do at the same time to make sure:

1. Those who are hurt by the cap now finally get some relief!
2. Those who are protected by the cap now aren't hurt when it comes off.

The answer lies with our "operating grant"—an amount of cash sent to the CBRM every year by the provincial government. That amount is intended as an equalization payment. The grant is frozen now, but we can increase it and use the new money to lower our taxes.

2 of 3 political parties have already made offers to increase the funding sent to the CBRM.

The PC's offered $15 Million. The NDP offered $50 Million.

We're just waiting on the governing Liberal party to make their offer too. But it's a difficult process. The Premier recently visited our local chamber of commerce and said he gives it "zero attention."

To get this deal done, we need strong councillors to push it forward. That's where I come in.

I've taken the clip above from a longer interview with Jeff McNeil on his Candidate Platform Livestream. For about 5 minutes, I'll share with you insights into how this system works, and why it's so easy to fix—almost immediately.

It can be fixed. Find out more at my website at www.electjoeward.com

[Authorized by Joe Ward]